City Agriculture - November 6, 2025

Food forests are everything: creating edible landscapes helps nature thrive in Afro-descendant lands
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/sep/23/environment-biodiversity-afro-descendants-latin-america-food-forests-aoe

Sky gardens in Fujian Province, China
https://x.com/ShangguanJiewen/status/1971522638615871743

The EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy, sustainable, and just food systems
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)01201-2/abstract
https://eatforum.org/update/eat-lancet-commission-warns-food-systems-breach-planetary-limits/

Solar glass with quantum dots increases lettuce crop yields almost 40%
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/10/07/new-solar-glass-cranks-up-lettuce-crop-yields-by-almost-40/

Charles River floating wetlands for water purification
https://thecharles.org/floating-wetlands/
previously: City Agriculture - September 6, 2019
Charles River Floating Wetland
Then again,
Water Authority Considers Proposal to Let Sewage Keep Flowing Into the Charles River - October 2025
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/10/30/charles-mwra-sewage-proposal/

Editorial Comment: John Todd’s Healing Earth is a great introduction to ecology systems building:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/576932/healing-earth-by-john-todd/9781623172985/
My review of the book: https://solarray.blogspot.com/2019/03/healing-earth-through-waters.html
Previously, August 9, 2016
Handy-pods: wetland plants to filter human waste in floating villages
https://wetlandswork.com/products-and-services/sanitation-in-challenging-environments/handy-pods/
Cambodian floating toilets
https://inhabitat.com/floating-toilets-filter-human-waste-in-cambodia-naturally-via-wetland-plants/

Can cities become self-reliant in food? The Cleveland Study from 2012 Scenario I (of III) uses 80% of every vacant lot to generate 22% - 48% of Cleveland’s demand for fresh produce (vegetables and fruits), 25% of both poultry and shell eggs, and 100% of honey
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264275111000692
hat tip Michael Bauwens and John Thackara

Planning for Agriculture in Virginia from Farmland Trust, a state or province level model
https://farmland.org/va-planning-for-ag

China solar company GCL scaling up agrivoltaics with tunable and bi-facial solar panels
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/10/17/china-is-totally-crushing-trumps-fossil-fuel-dream-with-agrivoltaics/

Not a cornfield - remedial agriculture art project in LA from 20 years ago and its echoes
https://metabolicstudio.org/not-a-cornfield
https://www.pbs.org/video/lauren-bon-restores-urban-land-with-la-river-water-4fpwp0/

A Portable Nutrient-recovering, Waterless, Unisex Urinal System - from Earle Barnhart and Hilde Maingay, two from the old New Alchemy Institute from back in the day
https://newalchemists.net/welcome-to-nutrient-recycling/cubies/
Others from New Alchemy who are still active include John Todd whose latest story at https://oceanarks.substack.com/ is about how solving problems sometimes upsets the status quo
and Bill McLarney who is continuing over 40 years of work in Costa Rica with ANAI:
http://www.anaicostarica.org/

How 70,000 African farmers use a public blockchain to manage their agricultural cooperatives
https://medium.com/@Blockchain4Good/how-do-70-000-african-farmers-use-a-public-blockchain-to-manage-their-agricultural-cooperatives-d495ae463c4d hat tip to Michel Bauwens

Ukrainian rewilding project offers recovery for the land and for veterans of war https://theconversation.com/ukraines-massive-nature-project-is-helping-veterans-and-land-recover-268343

City Agriculture - September 19, 2025

Matching preferred light frequencies to plants under solar panels at NREL [National Renewable Energy Laboratory]
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/06/18/solar-panels-give-edge-to-tomatoes-grown-underneath/

A vertical forest tower in Utrecht
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2025/jun/23/vertical-forest-tower-utrecht-netherlands

From vacuum cleaners to strawberries - Dyson Agriculture
https://www.core77.com/posts/137666/James-Dyson-is-Revolutionizing-Sustainable-Agriculture

Urban gardens in Sweden
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/well/sweden-urban-gardens.html
If you hit a paywall, try https://archive.md/JbCqd

In the Sweltering Southwest, Planting Solar Panels in Farmland Can Help Both Photovoltaics and Crops
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/10072025/agrivoltaic-solar-southwest-farmland/
hat tip: @redbilledchough.bsky.social

Clear solar power “windows” now being adapted to greenhouse food production:
“During the 2024 grow season, nine different plant species, including beans, leafy greens, tomatoes, and snow peas, saw growth yields increase by up to 93% in rooms fitted with ClearVue’s solar glass compared to regular glass” while producing 40% of the energy needed to power the greenhouse itself
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/07/14/clearvue-update/
Earlier: https://cleantechnica.com/2023/06/23/clearvue-its-solar-glass-come-home/
https://cleantechnica.com/2024/10/06/its-happening-see-through-solar-windows-kick-fossil-energy-to-the-curb/
Company website: https://www.clearvuepv.com/

Micro-forests of Elizabeth NJ - Miyawaki forests
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/climate/new-jersey-tiny-forests.html
If you hit a pay wall try https://archive.md/EFtTp

Vertical farms from concept to reality
https://www.agritecture.com/blog/from-concept-to-reality-rethinking-vertical-farms-as-urban-infrastructure

Mycorrhizal fungi and restoring the world’s forests
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/15/biology-mycorrhizal-fungi-map-restoring-world-forests
Editorial Comment: May be important to urban and Miyawaki forests too

City food forests offer a chance to experience nature — and eat it
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2025/08/19/food-forest-fruit-wildlife-nature/
If you hit a paywall, try https://archive.md/oUzyB

AgTech for Agroecology - lecture/video/transcripts
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2025-07-01/agtech-for-agroecology/

Miyawaki forests in Scotland
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250910-the-tiny-forests-that-thrive-in-cities

Brazilian favela goes green with gardens
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250821-why-a-brazilian-favela-facing-eviction-went-green-with-gardening

City Agriculture - June 19, 2025

In Kenya, a law against sharing indigenous seeds and a village choir raising their voices against it https://globalvoices.org/2025/05/10/kenya-outlawed-the-sharing-of-indigenous-seeds-an-village-choir-is-fighting-back/

HS student creates an app for an online farmers' market https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/local/high-school-student-creates-an-online-farmers-market-with-app/69-dea24a69-9172-46e4-aaaa-b23822098006

Vertical farms in cities to alleviate food insecurity https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/05/13/food-insecurity-vertical-farms-startups-cities If you hit a paywall, try https://archive.ph/zOMxS

Schools planting green spaces https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/16/la-schools-green-spaces

Lorain, OH [population 65,000] is beginning a "comprehensive initiative to turn underutilized spaces into thriving centers of food production, education, and opportunity” with the help of a USDA grant https://www.agritecture.com/blog/urban-farming-lorains-next-frontier-for-innovation-and-growth

LA’s Front Lawn Farm Movement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We1qoSDfUJE

Inside Africa's Food Forest Mega-Project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbBdIG--b58 hat tip to https://cleantechnica.com/2025/05/23/maybe-theres-hope-for-a-hopeless-time/

Gasometer tower to hydroponic production - from relic technology to a future https://www.agritecture.com/blog/reclaiming-the-industrial-past-for-a-greener-future-jabha-biotower-nam-earns-international-recognition

Indigenous ancient lagoon water management system of Ecuador https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jun/13/ecuador-indigenous-map-pre-inca-myths-ancient-lagoon-water-drought-

New advances in growing spirulina algae in vertical farms https://cleantechnica.com/2025/06/18/a-new-wave-of-algae-is-perking-up-the-vertical-farming-industry/

Food Twin Map - Discover where food is produced and how it travels around the world by selecting any region. https://foodtwin.theplotline.org/
Explanatory article https://grist.org/food-and-agriculture/a-new-app-details-where-your-food-comes-from-and-just-how-fragile-the-global-food-system-really-is/

Respyre - bioreceptive concrete cladding and a specialised moss gel making it easy to create green facades that purify the air, sequester carbon, and cool buildings
https://www.gorespyre.com/

City Agriculture - May 12, 2025

Urine as fertilizer
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250227-the-vermont-farmers-using-urine-to-grow-their-crops

An industrial designed bee hive based on the form factor of a hollow tree
https://www.core77.com/posts/135723/HIIVE-From-An-Industrial-Design-Thesis-to-Market

Black Farmers Index - connecting consumers to local food grown by Black farmers
https://blackfarmersindex.com/

ART given notice to quit 31-year-old Food Forest - not all news is good news
https://substack.com/home/post/p-159120584

The world’s biggest soil conservation project
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/14/how-china-led-way-water-soil-conservation

Enhancing agrivoltaic synergies through optimized tracking strategies - "This paper presents a methodology for dynamically optimizing solar panel positioning to meet the varying light requirements of crops. Simulations are conducted for a case study of an agrivoltaic system in an apple orchard in southwestern Germany."
https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/journals/journal-of-photonics-for-energy/volume-15/issue-03/032703/Enhancing-agrivoltaic-synergies-through-optimized-tracking-strategies/10.1117/1.JPE.15.032703.full
hat tip to https://cleantechnica.com/2025/03/15/new-agrivoltaic-tool-optimizes-solar-generation-and-crop-production/

Community farm reviving prairie land in Chicago
https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/03/17/how-a-little-village-farm-is-reviving-prairie-land-in-chicago/
hat tip to @chasesolidago.bsky.social

Paris votes for 500 more green streets
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/paris-residents-vote-favour-making-500-more-streets-pedestrian-2025-03-23/

Creole gardens as a response to climate change in Guadeloupe
https://globalvoices.org/2025/04/15/in-guadeloupe-creole-gardens-give-climate-lessons-in-a-spirit-of-solidarity/
Editorial Comment:  I’m reading Toxic Tropics:  A Horror Story of Environmental Injustice by Jessica Oublié, Nicola Gobbi, Kathrine Avraam, Vinciane Lebrun about the persistent contamination of Guadeloupe and Martinique by chlordecane which was used to control pests in banana plantations.  We have big problems on multiple fronts.

2 GW agrivoltaic project in China
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/04/19/massive-2-gw-agrivoltaic-project-aims-to-restore-desert-in-china/
Editorial Comment:  I learned a new word:  ecovoltaic - rebuilding soil health while restoring natural habitats and native plant species
Agrivoltaics and ecovotaics are examples of geotherapy, helping ecological systems restore the damage homo sap sap (that sap!) has done.

Growing strawberries under different levels of shading from thin-film solar panels
https://www.agritecture.com/blog/strawberries-under-solar-panels-agrivoltaics-canada

How Trmp’s first 100 days changed the USDA food system
https://grist.org/food-and-agriculture/trump-usda-food-system-agriculture-first-100-days/

City Agriculture - March 3, 2025

 The Poor Prole's Almanac: Restoration Agroecology

https://poorprolesalmanac.substack.com/
hat tip MT Spriggs

Port Huron, MI is planting trees to provide free fruit for residents under new pilot “Edible Parks” program
https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2024/12/20/michigan-city-planting-trees-to-provide-free-fruit-for-residents-under-new-pilot-program/

Food Forests in Permaculture:  And In-Depth Guide/
https://www.permalogica.com/post/food-forests-in-permaculture-an-in-depth-guide

Urban farming in Baltimore isn’t just about growing food
https://popularresistance.org/in-baltimore-urban-farming-isnt-just-about-growing-food/
Editorial Comment:  Baltimore has done a lot around local agriculture and grassroots leaders like Mel King in Boston and Grace Lee Boggs in Detroit have used urban gardening to build a foundation for much larger social movements
More on Grace Lee Boggs at https://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-next-american-revolution.html
More on Mel King at https://solarray.blogspot.com/2023/04/how-many-ways-did-he-change-world-mel.html

USDA supporting urban agriculture and sustainable food production with $14.4 million in funding
https://www.agritecture.com/blog/usda.gov-urban-agriculture-grants

Growing microalgae for food and fodder indoors in Iceland
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gjry6dv4yo

LONGi Kubuqi Desert Solar Power Project
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vntwjqMgCaE

Growing food in empty office spaces
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250127-why-veg-is-growing-in-empty-office-spaces

Food, water and energy self-sufficiency in a 33 meters diameter with a 3D printed house
https://3dwasp.com/en/itaca-the-self-sufficient-and-eco-sustainable-3d-printed-house/
hat tip Michael Bauwens

The green belt cooling a city
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/06/we-water-rest-water-the-green-belt-of-vegetable-plots-cooling-a-city

LA urban farmers will regrow and expand after the fires
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2025/feb/24/california-wildfires-altadena-farmers

Green roofs increase biodiversity for Basel, Switzerland.  They use native plants and seeds.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/28/green-roofs-deliver-for-biodiversity-how-basel-put-nature-on-top
from https://cityag.blogspot.com/2022/07/city-agriculture-july-31-2022.html
Rotterdam’s roofscape - greening 10 million square feet of rooftops
https://www.c40.org/case-studies/cities100-rotterdam-mitigation-meets-adaptation-on-rotterdam-s-rooftops/
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f082078d610926644d22e00/t/621e3b2a1ee23c373149cac0/1646148404157/URBANISTEN_Rotterdam_Rooftop_Potential_EN.pdf
https://www.fastcompany.com/90755913/inside-rotterdams-quest-to-green-10-million-square-feet-of-rooftops

City Agriculture - November 26, 2024

 From Nazi Bunker to Green Cultural Center and Urban Farm

https://www.core77.com/posts/133514/A-Nazi-Bunker-Transformed-Into-Green-Cultural-Center-and-Urban-Farm

Food Waste Legislative Tracker - State by State
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sU_r0MLaO4Nqx3HAJXqkOh1XabYkzRm5Zo9zsB2ZMxM/edit?pli=1&gid=1902823679#gid=1902823679
from Divert - protecting the value of food
https://divertinc.com/
Zero Food Waste Coalition
https://zerofoodwastecoalition.org/
Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic
https://hls.harvard.edu/clinics/in-house-clinics/food-law-and-policy-clinic/

Caixz Forum Museum vertical garden (living wall) in Madrid, Spain
https://www.greenroofs.com/projects/caixa-forum-museum-vertical-garden/
Explore Amazing Living Architecture Projects from Around the World
https://www.greenroofs.com/projects/

Finnish geotherapy for peatlands
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240912-the-finnish-fishermen-fighting-climate-change-by-preserving-carbon-rich-peatlands
Editorial Comment:  A little far afield but these kinds of initiatives are probably the quickest way to draw down carbon from the atmosphere

Concrete that absorbs CO2, insulates, and serves as a growing medium for vertical gardens
https://www.theplaidzebra.com/moss-growing-concrete-absorbs-co2-insulates-and-is-also-a-vertical-garden/

A greenhouse over a house in Norway that grows food all year round
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irp_HPzfxbQ
hat tip boingboing.net

Electro-agriculture to replace photosynthesis
https://scitechdaily.com/farming-in-the-dark-how-electro-agriculture-outpaces-photosynthesis/
hat tip ‪@johnsmillie42.bsky.social‬

Microfarms in LA yards
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/05/climate/microfarms-cropswapla-food-deserts.html
https://archive.ph/xjl6G - if you can’t get past the paywall

Denmark’s Groundbreaking Agriculture Climate Policy
https://www.wri.org/insights/denmark-agriculture-climate-policy

Agrivoltaics may improve the taste of lettuce, among many other things
https://www.microgridknowledge.com/commercial-industrial-microgrids/article/55238664/oregon-agrivoltaics-based-microgrid-tackles-crop-warming-from-climate-change-and-may-improve-taste-of-lettuce

Farm in the City - controlled environment agriculture for Puerto Rico, which imports 85% of its food
https://www.agritecture.com/blog/farm-in-the-city-is-transforming-puerto-ricos-food-system

New book - Urban Food Mapping
https://mikeytomkins.co.uk/urban-food-mapping/
hat tip to John Thackara

City Agriculture - September 4, 2024

 No Waste Army to rescue climate-changed vegetables (and farmers)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/29/its-not-beautiful-but-you-can-still-eat-it-climate-change-leads-to-more-wonky-vegetables-in-netherlands

Agrivoltaics - growing adoption and new technologies
https://cleantechnica.com/2024/07/11/peaches-grapes-the-agrivoltaic-farm-of-the-future/

Indoor farming for CO2 capture
https://www.agritecture.com/blog/direct-air-capture-dac-technology-for-indoor-farming
Editorial Comment:  I remember someone presenting this idea for greenhouses as direct air capture [DAC] of CO2 from coal and gas generators at an MIT climate conference about a decade ago.

Farm Urban - a community-wide initiative for growing food in Liverpool, UK
https://www.agritecture.com/blog/vertical-farming-and-social-good

Lawyers supporting natural plants against local weed ordinances
https://www.washingtonpost.com/home/2024/07/25/lawyer-helps-people-fighting-weed-ordinances/
https://archive.ph/3seaw

Urban rice terrace roofs to avoid flooding and sponge city forms
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240805-how-ancient-rice-terraces-inspire-flood-resilience-in-asian-cities

Kindergarteners drop seeds in the crack of the sidewalk 
https://streetartutopia.com/2024/04/28/kindergarten-children-dropped-seeds-in-the-crack-of-the-sidewalk-to-see-what-would-happen/

Editorial Comment:
        I can't remember seeing it any other way but whole, a big
round rock wheeling about the heavens and comin' on green to
crack sidewalks, gentle and undemanding, as if I saw it first,
approaching it from somewhere else.

Lew Welch, "He Begins to Recount His Adventures”
https://writing.upenn.edu/epc/authors/welch/welch_adventures.html

Rooftop farm, restaurant, and bar in Copenhagen
https://www.grospiseri.dk/the-team
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/22/t-magazine/copenhagen-rooftop-bar.html

Whole country survey of agrivoltaics - Canada
https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043228
https://www.agritecture.com/blog/agriculture-and-energy-future-agrivoltaics

Survey of current solar energy + agriculture, agrivoltaic, projects around the world
https://cleantechnica.com/2024/08/28/new-agrivoltaic-project-pairs-high-tech-solar-panels-with-shrimp-shaped-yams/
A little history:
https://solarray.blogspot.com/2019/09/agrophotovoltaics-agriphotovoltaics.html

Lawns to Legumes - Minnesota state project for "installing pollinator-friendly native plantings in residential lawns” - a Tim Walz initiative it seems and the first state to do this
https://bwsr.state.mn.us/l2l
hat tip Monica Raymond

Ecological restoration of the Klamath River basin after dam removal
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240903-removing-the-klamath-river-dams-to-restore-the-river-what-happens-next